Mistakes Were Made
by Ranger of the Forest
Summary: In which Raven has to track down a drunk and broken-hearted Robin. Why did this have to happen on her night off? Title may change. Rated M for language and maybe some suggestive stuff later.
1. Chapter 1

**Heyyyyyy, it's me with another RobRae story brought to you by procrastination! Dreading school tomorrow so here you go, enjoy.**

.~.

"Robin, where are you going?"

"Away from here," he spits, grabbing his motorcycle keys from the counter and storming off. Starfire looks at the other two Titans in horror.

"I did not know his reaction would be so..."

"Violent?" Beast Boy pipes up, mashing the buttons on his controller before raising his arms up in a victory salute. Starfire gives him a look.

"Moody?" Cyborg adds, staring up at the screen with a forlorn look on his face.

"How did you expect him to react Star, y'all had been together for years."

"Yes but I, I-" Starfire feels her eyes begin to fill with tears, and she (unsuccessfully) turns and tries to hide her sobs. Cyborg leaps to his feet and comes by her side, wrapping his arms around her and enfolding her into one of his renowned bear hugs.

"It'll be ok Star, you'll see," he whispers into her ear. He shares a look with a skeptical Beast Boy.

"BB, you'd better call Raven and tell her to find him. I think out of all of us she has the best chance of calming him down."

"Are you sure about that?" Beast Boy replies. Cyborg shoots him a glare. The changeling sighs andpicks up his communicator.

.~.

The night was young, the stars were out, and Raven could think of no better way to spend her Thursday evening than at the Jump City Municipal Library. It was her day off, so to speak. The Titans (Titans meaning Robin) had decided that organizing their going out time would help prevent everyone on the team taking off time right on top of each other. So each member officially had one weeknight off. They all usually did some group outing or team bonding activity.

Raven shuddered at the thought. Last time they had gone bowling, and let's just say Beast Boy didn't take his loss very well. Thankfully Robin had persuaded the owner not to sue for the many, many damages. Didn't mean Raven had any fond memories of being kicked out of Pin Palace.

But with a chamomile tea and a chocolate croissant from the little bakery down the street and a stack of Edna Short mysteries, she was all set for a relaxing evening all by herself.

And then her communicator went off. Raven sighed and flipped it open, hoping desperately it was just Beast Boy butt dialing her again. Of course she would understand if it was a mission, but even so it seemed like this one night was her only real freedom sometimes. She was 22 god damn it, if she wanted to spend some time by herself reading books and drinking then she would, Beast Boy's jokes be damned.

"What," Raven barked, earning a hush from the withered old librarian. She was too pissed to care. Their had better be a damn good explanation for this or so help her-

It was Beast Boy. But he looked weary and a little- scared? She regretted raising her voice, but there was no time for apologies. Something was wrong.

"It's Robin," he said, his eyes cast down like the sad little kitten he'd often turn into to get Starfire to forgive him.

Raven's heart caught in her throat.

"What happened?" She croaked, although a horrible suspicion popped into her head.

"Um, Star broke up with him, and he didn't exactly take it well." Raven cursed to herself. But a loud "young lady be quiet!" told her that she hadn't succeeded in keeping this to herself.

"Did she tell him about you know who?"

"She didn't have the chance, he ran out of there before she could say anything else."

Shit. This was not good. Raven grabbed her keys and shoved the books and what was left of her food into her bag. She balanced the tea and the still open communicator in her other hand.

"Hey, where do you think you're going? Did you check those books out?" Raven picked up the pace, although she doubted the old man could catch her.

Beast Boy continued to mutter nervously through the other side of the communicator. Through the sounds of cars honking she could hear something about death and the team breaking up.

"For God's sake Beast Boy, no one's going to die. Pull yourself together, ok?" He looked even more nervous and upset, and Raven wished she didn't have to try and be nice to people right now.

"Do you know where he went?" She asked, trying to make her voice as gentle as possible. She needn't have worried. Beast Boy was never down for very long.

"I don't know, but it's probably some place with lots of alcohol."

Double shit. He did not need to be drinking right now. Or ever, really. The one time Raven saw him with a hangover was enough to make her wish she'd never joined the team at all.

"You're going to have to be a bit more specific, BB. There are hundreds of places that could fit that description in Jump."

"Um, a bar I guess?"

"Well that really narrows it down. Good luck finding him, then."

"Um..."

Raven stopped in her tracks, nearly bumping into a street light.

"You can't be serious."

"You're already in town, you have a better chance of finding him than I do."

"Not really, considering how long it will take me to go to every bar in the city if he's not in this area."

"Please Raven, you're the only one who could deal with him right now, considering, well, everything. Just this once. I'll make it up to you, you can take my night off next week if it helps."

Damn Beast Boy, thinking he could get her agreement through flattery and bribery. It totally worked.

"Fine, but if anything extra shitty happens I'm blaming you." His face lit up.

"Rae you're the best, see you later." He exits the chat, leaving Raven staring st the dark space on her communicator.

"You're welcome," she mutters to herself, shoving the communicator in her back pocket and continuing on her way. The nearest bar was probably over on Iveson lane, just a few blocks a way. She was in the most child friendly part of the city, so to speak, and the only night life around there besides the library were the youth clubs, which they had outgrown years ago.

As Raven passed the parking lot where her car was parked, she realized that she wouldn't be able to go home for hours.

"Damn you and your broken heart, Robin." She said, and she didn't care if everyone in Jump City heard it.

.~.

 **So as of right now I'm planning to make this a three parter. Hopefully I'll be able to update soon, but it's this and Prince Charming and my Penderwicks fanfic. Lemme know what you think so far! I appreciate any and all reviews. Thanks for reading :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Olo everyone, had already had half of this written down so I decided to go ahead and finish this chapter. Merry Christmas/whatever you celebrate, and hopefully Prince Chamring will also be getting an update in the next couple of days. It's the middle of the night where I'm at, and I haven't really gone over this too much, so please point out any obvious errors so I can go back and fix them later. For now, enjoy.**

.~.

It took Raven almost two hours to track down their spiky haired leader. Two long, miserable hours walking in the disgustingly wet spring weather. Her shoes were soaked through from all the water on the pavement. Which is why when she entered the Hot Shots Bar and saw Robin, she was ready to wring his neck. Heartbroken or not, the little shithead shouldn't be out getting drunk and leaving the rest of the team to deal with finding him. Oh right, it was just her, she thought bitterly.

"Hey Dick!" A few giggles burst out from the end of the bar, but Raven couldn't be bothered dealing with that right now. The closer she came to Robin, the more...off everything seemed about him. Slumped down against the countertop, moving a glass of what looked like whiskey back and forth over the table. And he hadn't seemed to hear her either. She tried not to show her disgust as the reek of alcohol wafted towards her the closer she got to it. Even if Raven was partial to a strong drink now and then, it was in moderation in the seclusion of her room. Not drowning in it publicly.

"Are you planning on killing yourself with this?"

He turned, and Raven almost flinched.

"Why aren't you wearing your mask?"

Robin picked up his glass and downed the rest, his eyes never leaving hers. The edges of his sky blue eyes were now tinged with red. Had he been...crying?

"Didn't you hear, the less a man wears the sexier he is?" He grinned, rocking back and forth on the cracked leather barstool.

"Not when the man in question is drunk off his ass. Let's get you home." Raven grabbed his arm and pulled in the direction of the door.

"NONONO," Robin yelled, waving the arm with his empty glass about in the air.

"Calm down," she hissed, looking around nervously. The rest of the bar's inhabitants seemed too drunk to care one way or another, but she didn't fancy being forcibly removed from the place. He looked like he was about to protest, so she quickly took the seat next to him. This seemed to relax him considerably, and Raven resigned herself to sitting here as long as it would take to get Robin to go back to the Tower with her.

As if sensing fresh money, the greasy bartender oozed his way over to her.

"What'll it be, baby?"

"A glass of scotch, and if I were you I wouldn't call me baby again, mkay?" Raven gave him her brightest smile, but it didn't seem to charm the man very much. He paled, mumbling something about demons, and turned away from them.

"He's not wrong," Robin mumbled while he stared at the bottom of his glass. She was surprised he was alert enough to decipher that much.

"More alcohol isn't going to magically appear in there, you know."

"Maybe if I believe hard enough it will. Isn't that what they always tell you to do, believe in yourself?"

"Been watching a lot of Disney movies lately, have we?"

"It's all a load of bullshit anyway."

"You didn't answer my question." He laughed, a short barking thing which makes Raven feel like she's doing this whole thing wrong. Then silence.

But the bartender handed Raven her scotch, shamelessly slid another glass towards Robin, then left to prey on some college girls. Robin grabbed at the fresh glass as if it would give him the answers to all of life's greatest mysteries. Fine. Two could play at that game. Raven took a sip of her choice in liquid courage for the evening. It wasn't as nice as anything she kept in her personal collection, but it was good enough for now.

She turned to face Robin, looking him up and down as he moped. She narrowed her eyes. He was dressed up pretty nicely for a Thursday night. Dress pants and a button down shirt that almost captured the color of his eyes. Were he and Star-

"Who did she leave me for?" Robin asked. He tried to appear nonchalant, but a clenched jaw and shaking hands gave him away. Raven lowered her head to her glass, mimicking him.

"Why do you think that? Did she say anything to you?"

"She might as well have. We'd been dating for years, Raven, do you think she can hide that from me?"

Raven circled her index finger over the rim of her glass. It was shameless stalling, but telling Robin the truth right now could potentially set him off further, and in a public setting?

"If you promise to come back to the tower with me, I'll tell you." Surely his insatiable need to make himself more miserable would motivate him to acquiesce.

"Why should I? I'm done with the Titans."

"Haha birdbrain. Very funny." Raven glanced around. Robin looked up and caught her eyes, brimming with an emotion she couldn't quite place. She shifted in her seat and looked away.

"I'm serious, Rae."

"And who would lead us, huh? Beast Boy? You're really going to leave us all, just because Star broke up with you? I never thought you were the type to act this petty."

"It would be the best for the team, I can't be around her, not anymore."

"Really Robin? If I went by that logic, I'd have quit the team within a week. We all suck in our own ways, we're all massive pains in the ass at times. Everyone has baggage. You're no different." Raven downed the rest of her drink, letting her last remnants of logic slip away. She leaned in closer to Robin.

"Do you wanna know something?"

"What?"

"I...I used to date Beast Boy." Robin sat up straight in his seat, and looked more alert than he had even two minutes ago.

"No way. You're making this up."

"I wish. It was like two or three years ago. We dated until spring this year."

"Damn. Did anyone else know?" Raven shook her head, keeping her eyes fixed on the table.

"We didn't make a big deal out of it, although I'm surprised he was able to keep his mouth shut. I always thought Cy suspected, but he never said anything to me."

"Why'd you end it?"

"Why are you assuming I ended it?" Robin blinked.

"You're not telling me...no."

"Yup. He wanted to make it public, but I didn't. And he thought that meant I wasn't ready for an "actual" relationship. His words, not mine." Raven looked up, and was startled to find a level of softness in Robin's eyes she had never seen before, not towards her. It took everything in her not to turn away right then.

"I know you and Star were an item for much longer, with a lot more publicity, but you're not the only one who's been through a failed teammate romance, if it helps."

"Thanks for that," Robin muttered as he took another sip of his drink. They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. Then he turned to her, and if Raven didn't know any better, she'd say there were tears in his eyes.

"It's Cyborg, isn't it?" Her silence was all the answer he needed. Robin clenched his fists, his knuckles turning whiter and whiter.

"Robin, please." Raven's hand was on his arm before she even knows what she is doing. She stood, not loosening her grip on him, and fumbled in her pocket for some money, setting it down on the bar

"I'm not going with you, Raven," he said, slamming his glass on the table. A few heads turn, but by this point many of the bar's patrons are well on their way to getting wasted.

"Robin, enough." She heard her voice turn to steel, and is gratified as the boy wonder shudders slightly. With this, she hoisted him off the stool as gently as she can manage, and dragged him out of the bar.

The night air blasts in her face, and she couldn't help but close her eyes and imagine how nice it would be if she had experience this after a peaceful night of reading at the library. It had a sobering effect after the sleepy warmth of the bar, but unfortunately Robin seemed to feel this too.

He nearly tugged her arm out of its socket, and before Raven knew what was happening, he had already dragged her halfway down the block. Deeper into the city. Further away from the tower.

"Robin, no. We have to go back." Before she could rip her arm away, he turned to face her, a dull gleam in his eyes. He leaned in closer to her, and she couldn't help but mimic him.

"Rae, if you make me go back to the tower now, I promise you that I will hurt Cyborg worse than I've ever hurt anyone in my entire life." His voice is filled with gravel and Raven shuddered in spite of herself. She didn't doubt it.

"Come out with me. I know a place just a block over that has the best DJ."

"No, this is ridiculous, no clubs. You've had enough to drink already and there's no need for you to embarrass yourself further through dancing."

"I disagree." His eyes were twinkling, and his hand slid down to meet hers. Although Raven would rather have this than the death grip on her arm, she felt more ruffled than she would have liked. She tried to free her hand, but instead of letting go he simply entwined his fingers with her. Raven grimaced.

 _Leave it_ , a small voice inside her murmured. _What's the harm?_

 _What's the harm indeed_ , another voice snorted. Raven tried to push them out. She refused to let her emotions control her more than they already had this evening. But as Robin pulled her forward, she began to doubt herself further. What in the hell had she gotten herself into?

.~.

 **Apologies that it's taken me a month for any updates, but I've been swamped. Hopefully I won't have more than a month's delay in the future for any story updates, but since it's break you should be able to expect more soon. Lemme know what you think, and constructive criticism is more than welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Honestly feel very overwhelmed by all the reviews. Every comment, fave, and follow means a lot to me and I'm so glad y'all have enjoyed this story. This is the last chapter, but there will be more to come I promise :) Also fair warning I wrote this at 2 in the morning and havent heavily edited so there might be some mistakes (get it, mistakes, like the title which is mistakes were made, hahahaha I'm hilarious and these author notes are not at all obnoxious dear god I really need to get some sleep). Enjoy!**

When they reached the club Raven started to regret ever agreeing to come with him. She should've let him and Cyborg duke it out back at the tower. Certainly couldn't cause more pain than the noxious music pumping out of the "Snakehole." With a name like that what could possibly go wrong?

Robin tugged at her hand, pulling her past the throng of sweaty, screeching people waiting to get in. Once they reached the front of the line, they were met with a solid 6'7 block of a man. His stern countenance immediately lit up once he saw Robin.

"Dick, my man, how's it going?" They did one of those bro hug-high five-fist bump combo that every frat boy seems to know on instinct. Raven tried not to visibly cringe.

"Reggie, how's it going?"

"I see you have a new guest with you tonight. Don't worry, the redhead won't hear anything from me." Raven felt her free hand curl into a fist. Robin's grip on her hand tightened to an uncomfortable degree. Although she would have loved nothing more than to punch this asshole into another dimension, they really shouldn't get into a fight in front of all these people. But he just nodded, the tightening of his jaw the only indicator that something was off. Raven let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

And immediately wished she had taken a bigger one after stepping into the cesspool that was the Snakehole. A wave of cologne and perfume and whatever other scented stuff people put on their bodies clouded her nostrils. Raven wrinkled her face.

Robin seemed to have quite the opposite reaction. His face lit up like a pinball machine and he started swaying back and forth to the music.

"How can you dance to this?" Raven asked him, appalled. He rolled his eyes at her.

"What, is it not indie enough for you?"

"No," she replied with a bite to her voice. "I just don't think shitty remixes of top 40 hits make for good dancing." He shrugged her off with a scowl, apparently not in the mood to talk, and started to head towards the bar which was conveniently located on the other side of the room. Which was in turn the size of a warehouse. Not on her watch. Raven grabbed his arm and pulled him back. She didn't plan on getting lost in there.

"Uh uh, no more alcohol for you, buddy." Robin let out a little whimper. _Oh good grief, it's like dealing with a five year old_ she thought. Raven waited for him to make some sort of protest, but felt her insides turn cold when the sides of his mouth turned up. She'd say it was a smile, but it had far too much of that smug quality that made Robin so punchable at times.

"Sure, I'll stop drinking...as long as you come dance with me, Rae." She didn't know what threw her off more: the use of her nickname typically reserved for Beast Boy coming from him, or the fact that he actually thought she would be up for any form of rhythmic movement. But faced with the possibility of a drunk angry Robin going ballistic on act and Star seemed far less appealing than a temporary loss of her dignity. She would take yet another one for the team tonight. _They owe me so fucking much right now_ Raven fumed.

"Just one dance."

"Oh come on, that's not a fair deal."

"Three then."

"Seriously."

"Fine, five, and that's all you're getting."

"There now, was that so hard?" He grinned so wide it looked like his face was about to rip apart.

"You asshole," she murmured as she dragged him out into the middle of the dance floor.

While this did not rank high on her list on of enjoyable moments, Raven admitted to herself that dancing was kind of fun. She didn't care about any of these people or what they thought of her, so why should it matter if she wasn't a technically proficient dancer? Robin didn't seem to care either, and they unleashed their most embarrassing moves on the dance floor. He even convinced her, by some sorcery, to do the sprinkler.

She didn't realize how much time had passed until her communicator beeped and she saw a message from Beast Boy.

"Having fun? ;) ;) ;)" Raven growled and shut it off. The send time read 10:40. And it was twenty minutes past that, and they had started dancing at 10:05. And unless club songs were as long as they were ear shattering, that meant her five song limit was well up and that Raven had done more than her fair share of dancing. She pulled away from where Robin is doing some sort of jumping jack on steroids and tried to make her way to the edge of the dance floor. But a pair of very warm hands on her hips stopped her dead in her tracks. Raven turned and looked up, prepared to send whatever fool dared to try something with her to meet her father, until she saw a pair of familiar blue eyes gazing at her.

"You smell nice Rae," Robin murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in closer.

"Robin, stop." He spun her around and bent his head down and moved it closer to hers, lips parting. She could smell the reek of alcohol mixed with his aftershave and it made her want to throw up, right there on the middle of the club floor.

"But I lo-" Before she knew what she was doing Raven reached up her hand and slapped him. Hard. He reeled back, both hands clutching his face.

"What, now that Star dumped you, you think you have a chance with the other girl on the team? That you'd be doing me a favor or something? What is wrong with you? I'm sorry Star broke up with you, that sucks, but don't use me to fix it or whatever the hell you think this is."

"But I don't want to be friends, I want-" Robin hiccuped, every trace of sex appeal he had tried to emit fading.

"You're an asshole, you know that?"

"And you're a prude." Raven swung her arm back, white hot with anger, but before she could slap him again he grabbed her hand and held it over her head. She gritted her teeth and glared at him.

"Not wanting to hook up with you doesn't make me a prude."

"But you do, I know you do." She snorted.

"Yes, I'm sure that would go over well in court." He just continued to look at her, and before he could do anything else, Raven continued.

"Besides, you're—you're drunk."

"You're not exactly sober yourself."

"Sober enough to realize that you're not in a sound mental state right now." She managed to jerk her arm away and rubbed at it, wishing she could get the scent of him away from her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That you just got dumped. For the first time in what, 7 years? That's a long time to date someone, and I know that you probably feel like your world is ending, but it's not. Life goes on. I know you feel like Star was your soulmate, but things didn't work out. You have to accept that even if you don't like it. It sucks to have to work with an ex, I've had firsthand experience with that, but for the good of the team and the city you have to deal."

In a moment Robin's face has crumpled, and without thinking Raven stretched up her hand and placed it on his cheek. He put his hand over hers, still not looking her in the eyes.

"It's going to be ok. You'll get over Star eventually, but you need to give it time."

"Or to get off of this team." Panic rose in Raven's chest. This was the exact opposite of what was supposed to happen.

"It doesn't have to come to that, surely you wouldn't be-"

"Be what, Raven? Starfire knew me more intimately than anyone else and yet couldn't stand to be with me. What does that say about me?"

"That you weren't the right guy for her." He snapped his eyes back onto hers.

"And Cyborg is?"

"Maybe, I don't know. But that doesn't matter. If you break up the team, you're losing four close relationships, instead of just one. Do you really think that's your best option?"

"It's better than seeing them together," Robin muttered. She sighed.

"Do you think it was easy for me to see Beast Boy leave me behind?"

"That's different, you weren't official right, not like me and Star." Heat rose in Raven's face.

"Doesn't mean I didn't care about him. You don't have the right to explain away my feelings when you're acting like a child about yours. At least I didn't go on a drunken escapade all over town when he dumped me." Raven could feel his eyes on her still, but she didn't want to look at him.

"It killed me, watching him move on with his life, having to pretend everything was fine when I felt like giving up on the team and on everything else in my life." She swallowed, feeling the dryness of her mouth. Her eyes started to well with tears, even as she cursed herself for being so weak in front of Robin. Maybe that's why her next words came out as a croak.

"I couldn't control my emotions when I needed to most. As an empath too I—" Raven felt herself being cut off as Robin leaned down and crashed his mouth into hers. He cradled her face in his hands as his tongue explored the recesses of her mouth. She didn't know what she would have thought he would taste like, but it wasn't this. Mint mixed with whiskey. Not exactly a winning combination. She pulled away, trying to be gentle but firm. No matter how soft his lips were, they were coworkers and friends, and he had just been dumped by Star. The most rational part of Raven's brain knew that while Robin would never intentionally hurt her, he was too caught up in his own melodrama to realize how his actions affected others. Hell, he would probably forget this by tomorrow. She turned to him, ready to go home and pretend like this never happened.

"Come on, let's go." Robin made no protest as she dragged him out of the club and into the dark night. Raven tucked his arm in hers and prepared to take off. She'd have to go back for her car later.

"Raven?"

"Yes Robin?" She refused to look at him. While she couldn't find it in her to hold this night against him any longer, her patience was fading fast. She couldn't let a slip up like that happen again.

"I know you think I just kissed you because I was drunk but—"

"Please, let's not talk about it any—"

"But Raven, you're—you're the best friend I've got now. And I really appreciate everything you've done for me, tonight I mean. I know I'm not always easy to deal with—" _Understatement of the fucking century_ she grumbled to herself.

"But you've been a real pro about all of this. So thanks." He looked like a wounded puppy. It would've been funny if it wasn't so depressing.

"Don't mention it."

"And Raven—" She was growing tired of this exchange.

"Yes, Robin?"

"Don't think I'll forget about that kiss."

"You should. It was a fluke and meant—"

"Exactly what it did. I'm not completely braindead, if you really were disgusted by me kissing you you wouldn't have kissed me back—"

"I did NOT kiss you back." Raven responded, heat rising to her face.

"That's not what I remember," he sang at her with that smug little grin. Raven felt an overwhelming urge to slap him again. So what if she maybe kissed him back a tiny bit? She was trying to be polite and not send him to hell or anything like that. He was her friend, what else was she supposed to do, nevermind that—

"Hey, are you ok?" He looked down at her with genuine concern in his eyes, and Raven felt even more annoyed at that.

"I'm fine, birdbrain. Now let's get you home."

They began their ascent and Raven looked sideways at her team leader, now leaning against her shoulder. She shuddered slightly, and tried to quell her thoughts, each one trying to overpower the other. Old feelings, old mistakes, had been reawakened tonight, and Raven didn't know how the hell it would turn out this time.

 **A/N: And that's a wrap! Although, no promises, but I'm thinking of writing a sequel of sorts to this, set a few months in the future. Let me know if you have any thoughts on that. Once again thank you all so much for following this story, hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it.**


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